Such Great Heights
by Princess Oats 435
Summary: It was amazing really considering that when this all happened starting eight months ago, Ryan doubted his place in the family The Cohen family goes through some changes.
1. Such great heights

Hello everyone! This one is much, much lighter than the last one. I hope that you still enjoy it and please, please review. The title and the lyrics come from the song by the Postal Service, and it's an awesome song, and even though parts of it don't exactly match up, I had to use it because it's currently my favorite song. I'm currently procrastinating from doing my stats homework, because let's just face it; this is so much more fun than doing stats homework.

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. I swear.

_I think that it's a sign_

_That the freckles in our eyes_

_Are mirror images_

_That when we kiss _

_They're perfectly aligned _

"Are you okay?" Kirsten asked as she watched as Ryan taped up the last box in his bedroom. He turned his head slightly and saw her out of the corner of his eye. One arm was placed on her hip, and the other was resting on top of her stomach. "Do you need anything?"

" No, I'm good. Shouldn't you be lying down?" Ryan asked. Kirsten smiled.

"You caught me," she said guiltily. "Just don't tell Sandy, okay? He'll yell at me and the last thing that I want right now is to be yelled at."

"So if you know that you're going to be yelled at, why did you risk it?" Ryan asked with his famous half smile appearing on his face.

"I was so damn bored!" Kirsten whined. "So I thought I would come out here and see how things were going with you." Ryan hurried over and cleared a spot on the chair for her. She eased herself into it and sighed. "Thanks sweetie."

"No problem," Ryan said as he went back to packing.

"So how's it going?" Kirsten asked looking at the pile of boxes that were currently covering the expanse of Ryan's bed. Ryan shrugged.

"It's going okay," he said. "I didn't realize I had accumulated so much stuff since moving in with you guys."

"Well, you know who to blame that one on," Seth's voice came from outside.

"Who?" Kirsten feigned ignorance and her son sighed as he stepped into the pool house.

"Please Mother, the only one in this room who is an admitted shopaholic." Seth paused for a minute. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Kirsten sighed loudly.

"I'm sitting down, aren't I? Can't you guys just leave me alone? Is it okay to want to interact with my family?" Seth simply raised one eyebrow.

"Dad's going to kill you," he said. "You know that right?" Kirsten shook her head.

"I'm up, okay? So let's talk about something else. Why don't you get us some water Seth?" Kirsten suggested. Seth looked like he was about to argue, but didn't, and instead turned around and trotted back into the house. "I could get used to this treatment." She grinned at Ryan, and he couldn't help but grin back at her.

"What do you mean get used to?" Ryan asked still smiling. "You've always gotten your way. And especially since the doctors put you on bed rest." It was true. There was not a single thing that Kirsten asked for that she didn't get. She just had to say the word and all three men in her life would jump to their feet and run to be the first one to grab it for her. Not that this was much of a change, even Seth was prey to Kirsten's charm. But no one fell harder than Sandy.

All Kirsten had to do was smile at him and he was off and running to do her bidding. When Ryan had pointed this out once, Sandy had been properly indignant, but admitted later when it was just the two of them that this was true.

"I can't help it," he told Ryan. "Since the moment that I met her I was butter in her hands."

Seth came back into the pool house with three bottles of water in his hands. He handed one to his mother and one to Ryan.

"Thank you honey," Kirsten said smiling at him. Ryan took a break from the packing and sat down and the three of them were laughing and joking when Sandy's panicked voice echoed across the patio.

"Kirsten? Kirsten!" The first place Sandy had gone when he had gotten home was up to their bedroom to check on his wife, and had found her not in bed where he had left her. This was enough to send Sandy into full panic mode. "Ryan? Seth?"

"Dad, we're out here!" Seth called out. Sandy hurried out to the pool house.

"Why aren't you in bed?" He demanded when he saw Kirsten sitting in one of Ryan's chairs, with her feet propped up.

"I got bored, honey, I didn't mean to scare you. I meant to be back in bed by the time you got home," Kirsten tried to calm her husband down, but he was having none of it.

"You shouldn't be out of bed," Sandy said.

"I know, I'm sorry. I guess this means that I have to go back to bed now right?" Kirsten pouted, and it did the trick.

"Well, I guess if you aren't moving around or anything, you can stay down here for a little bit longer, and then we'll order dinner and eat it in our bedroom," Sandy finally compromised. They had been having dinner in Kirsten and Sandy's bedroom since the doctor had told Kirsten that she would have to stay off of her feet for the next month a few weeks before. Sandy had gone out right away and bought a little table for their bedroom, and the boys ate there as Sandy sat with Kirsten on their bed and ate off of trays.

"Thank you," Kirsten beamed at him. Sandy came over and leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips.

"How are you feeling today?"

"Oh, you know, like I'm going to burst," she said motioning to her stomach.

"But you look beautiful," Sandy told her leaning in for another kiss.

"Dad, please. Your children are in the room," Seth reminded him disgusted. Sandy grinned. Children. Two sons, and soon to be another baby. Ryan caught Sandy's infectious smile and grinned himself.

If someone told him a year ago that he would be moving into the house because during one of her more weepy moments, Kirsten had demanded that she had to have all of her children inside the house, he would have told them that they were nuts. After all, a year ago he had just moved in with the Cohens and Kirsten was still the slightly cold and distant woman who didn't quite trust him and placed him in the pool house to for her family's safety.

Now he was a part of that family. And he was just as anxious and excited to become a big brother as Seth was.

It was amazing really considering that when this all happened starting eight months ago, Ryan doubted his place in the family. Eight months ago, Ryan had a bag packed and ready for when he needed to flee. And he knew that he would have to flee. After all, all good things had to come to end. And Ryan had known that his time was dwindling with the Cohens.

But that was eight months ago, on this day Ryan was packing up his things from the pool house so that Kirsten wouldn't get all weepy like she did lately. Well, she would still get weepy, he figured, but at least him not living in the house wouldn't be the reason for it.

_And I have to speculate_

_That God Himself_

_Did make us into corresponding shapes_

_Like puzzle pieces from the clay_

Eight months earlier:

Kirsten stared at the pregnancy test in her hand. Pregnant? No. It couldn't be positive. She was thirty-seven years old! She had a sixteen-year-old son. Sons, she reminded herself. Two sixteen-year-old sons.

No. She couldn't be pregnant. She was on birth control. But there had been that time the month before when she forgot to refill her prescription and it had been Sandy's birthday, and she couldn't deny him anything on his birthday. She smiled thinking of that night, and then shook her head.

What would Sandy say? What would the boys say? She was pregnant. Well, that certainly explained the nausea that she had been having the past couple of weeks. And the weird cravings. Just the other night, she and Sandy were watching some biography on Elvis, and they had talked about how he loved fried banana sandwiches, and Kirsten had said,

"God, I could really go for a fried banana sandwich right now." Sandy had raised an eyebrow at her.

"Really? Because I think that they sound disgusting."

"I wouldn't knock it until you've tried it dear," Kirsten had replied.

She had gotten weird cravings when she was pregnant with Seth too. She was surprised that she hadn't put two and two together in her head. They had always wanted another baby, and had even decided to start trying again when Seth was around four, but then her mother got sick, and she began to work with her father, and there was never an appropriate time. It kept getting pushed back, until they didn't even consider it anymore.

It looked like fate had taken it out of their hands.

"Kirsten?" Sandy's head poked around the corner of the doorway and Kirsten dropped the pregnancy test quickly into the garbage can. "I thought I'd give the boys the car for the day because Ryan has soccer practice and Seth has litmag, so I was going to drop you off at work. Are you ready to go?" Kirsten managed to paste on a smile.

"Sure, in a minute," she replied.

"Okay, I'll be downstairs," Sandy told her before he closed the door. She let out a sigh of relief and reached down and picked up the pregnancy test, wrapped both that and the box in toilet paper and buried it in the garbage can. She found Sandy waiting for her, reading the paper.

"I'm ready," she announced grabbing her briefcase and following her husband out the door.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked. He had held back her hair the morning before as she threw up, and it was the familiarity of that situation that caused her to make a stop on the way home to pick up the pregnancy test. The positive pregnancy test. "Did you make an appointment like I asked you to?" Kirsten nodded. She had made a doctor's appointment; it just wasn't the doctor that Sandy was thinking.

"Tomorrow at eleven," she told him. And if the doctor confirmed it, then Kirsten would start thinking about how she would tell her family.

"Want me to go with you?" He asked glancing over at her. He knew that she was nervous. He could tell by the way her hands were clutched in her lap and she kept playing with her earrings. And suddenly Sandy was filled with dread. Maybe something was seriously wrong. Maybe that was why she was acting so strange. Maybe there was something that she wasn't telling him.

"No, that's okay," she offered him a small smile. "I'll be fine by myself."

"But you'll call me the minute you find out something right?" Sandy demanded. What if she was really sick? Oh God, he couldn't live without her.

"Yes," she promised. "Sandy, calm down, I'm sure it's okay." This time she gave him a real smile, and he did relax a little as they pulled up in front of her office building.

"Have a good day," Sandy said leaning over and giving her a kiss.

"You too," she said returning the kiss.

"I love you," he called out.

"I love you too," she replied and disappeared into the building. Kirsten smiled at all the employees that she passed until she got to her office. She quickly shut the door and sighed as she slid into her chair.

How exactly was she going to tell her family?

_And true, it may seem like a stretch_

_But it's thoughts like this_

_That catch my troubled head_

_When you're away_

_When I am missing you to death_

Present:

Sandy helped Kirsten back into bed and handed her the book she had asked for as he went to order dinner. Seth stuck his head into his parent's bedroom.

"Is it okay if Summer comes over for dinner? We have to work on a project later for chemistry," he asked.

"Sure, if it's okay with your father," Kirsten shrugged.

"It is, he said to check with you. I'm going to go call her." With that Seth disappeared and Kirsten went back to reading her book. A second later, Ryan popped in with a school book in one hand.

"Hey, sorry I'm interrupting, I can come back," he said turning towards the door.

"No, it's fine," Kirsten said smiling at him. "What's up?"

"Well, okay, I just needed help with my Western Civ homework. Sandy said to talk to you because he knew nothing about history," Ryan said shrugging. Kirsten smiled to herself. Who was Sandy kidding? He was a history genius. He just didn't want Kirsten to be bored, so he had sent Ryan up to keep her company. They had probably hatched this plan together, Kirsten thought to herself. Ryan came over to the bed and sat down next to Kirsten and they began to piece together his essay about the city-states of ancient Greece.

Just as they were finishing, Sandy came in with Seth and Summer.

"Hi Kirsten," Summer said brightly. Summer loved coming over to the Cohen house for dinner. She always had, but lately with Kirsten's pregnancy, she loved it even more. There was an air of excitement in the house, and Summer loved how they had moved all of their activities to be centered around Kirsten so that she could still be involved, but she didn't have to move. The warm house was a far cry from her own house, where she heated up the dinners that the maid had left for her and ate by herself at the long table that sat eighteen, but only really ever was used by her. "How are you feeling today?"

"Great," Kirsten replied smiling back at her. Sandy climbed onto the bed next to Kirsten and handed her a plate. Kirsten leaned back happily against the headboard. Sandy had ordered Chinese, because lately she had been on a fortune cookie kick.

"Good," Summer said sitting down next to Seth and stealing the Lo Mein noodles off of Ryan. She knew that in the next month she would find every excuse to be over Seth's house. She smiled happily as Sandy asked for some soy sauce and Seth and Ryan each threw a handful of packets at him, and he covered his head with his arms. Oh yeah, they were going to be sick of her by the end of the month if she had her way.

_When you were out there on the road_

_For several weeks of shows_

_And when you scanned the radio_

_Well, I hope this song will guide you home_

Okay, so that was the first chapter. Like I said, it's much lighter than my other fic, but what can I say? I'm a sucker for both Sandy and Kirsten and babies, and so I decided to join the club and write a baby story for them. Let me know what you think! Thanks!


	2. I think that it's a sign

Thank you so much for reviewing! You guys are awesome! Here is the next part, I hope that you all enjoy it. I'm having a wonderful day because I registered this morning and I got all of the classes I wanted! This means that on Mondays and Tuesdays next semester I'm going to have one class and be done at noon. How awesome is that? I'm never leaving college, I've decided. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: Right, the characters, nor the song, are mine.

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"Sandy?" There was no answer so Kirsten waited another second. "Sandy?" Nothing. "SANDY!" Sandy bolted awake and turned to face his wife.

"What?! What's the matter? Are you okay? Is it the baby?" He reached over and turned on a light and Kirsten could see worry etched all over his face.

"I'm starving," Kirsten said suddenly feeling very badly about waking him up. Especially when he was all panicked like that. All she wanted was something to eat. And she could have gotten it for herself if she wasn't on damned mandatory bed rest. Seriously, this whole bed rest thing was getting quite old.

"You're what?" Sandy rubbed his eyes and felt his heart rate start to go back to normal.

"I'm starving," she repeated. Her stomach growled and she wasn't so sorry about waking him up anymore.

"What do you want?" Sandy asked throwing his legs over the side of the bed and slipping his feet into slippers.

"Hmm....do we have any of that General Tso's left?"

"I'll check, what if we don't?" Sandy stole a glance at the clock. Three in the morning. He knew that this was just the start. Once the baby was born they were all in for some sleepless nights.

"Peanut butter and banana sandwich...and oh! Mint chocolate chip ice cream," Kirsten requested. "You know what? Even if we have General Tso's bring that."

"Instead of the General Tso's?" Sandy clarified. Kirsten looked at him as if he had just suggested growing a second head.

"In addition to the General Tso's," she said. Sandy nodded and with one more longing look back at their bed, made his way down to the kitchen. He yawned as he opened the fridge to pull out the containers of leftover take out. He fixed a plate for Kirsten and headed back upstairs, and was not surprised to find that his wife had fallen back asleep. Very carefully, so that he didn't wake her, he set the tray of food down on the nightstand next to her and slipped back into bed. He was trying really hard not to wake her up. She had been getting very little to no sleep lately, and the fact that she was sleeping so peacefully now was a rarity.

He couldn't resist though, before he fell asleep, to place a soft kiss on her forehead. Three more weeks. That was it. Three more weeks and her due date was there, and then he would greet his new son or daughter.

If Kirsten got her way it would be a girl. If Seth got his, it would be a boy. He didn't think Ryan had any sort of preference, and to be honest, neither did Sandy.

Three more weeks and they'd be a family of five. Far cry from a year ago when they were simply a family of three. And Sandy was sure that Kirsten and Ryan would agree that five was much better than three.

_They will see us waving from such great heights_

"_Come down now" _

_They'll say_

_But everything looks perfect from far away_

"_Come down now" _

_But we'll stay_

Eight months before:

"Mrs. Cohen, you are indeed pregnant, congratulations." The words kept replaying in Kirsten's head as she drove home. After the doctor's appointment, she decided that she couldn't go back to the office. She needed to take some alone time to wrap her mind around it. Kirsten knew that she should probably call Sandy and let him know that she was okay, but he was bound to ask a million questions that she wasn't ready to deal with quite yet.

Kirsten turned off her cell phone and drove to the beach. She pulled a blanket out of the trunk and laid it in the sand and sat down.

Another baby. As much as she hated to admit it, she was excited. She had loved being pregnant the first time, and this way she and Sandy wouldn't be alone when the boys left for college.

The boys. She could only imagine Seth's reaction to the irrefutable proof that his parents still had sex. And Ryan. His place in the family was just starting to become more cemented. Would this throw their delicate balance with him in a tailspin?

Kirsten sat there for hours. She was still feeling an array of emotions ranging from excitement to being scared to death. But she was happy. That was the most overriding emotion. She might be terrified of the reactions of her family, and of having a baby again after all these years, but she was happy.

When she pulled into the driveway, the door to their house flew open and Sandy stood there with a phone up to his ears. He looked like a wreck.

"She just pulled up," he spoke into the phone as he ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. I'll have her call you later Caleb." With that, Sandy hung up the phone and came over to her and folded her in his arms. He let out a huge sigh of relief and kissed the top of her head.

"Where have you been?" He asked not letting her go. "We've been worried sick about you. You just took off and didn't let anyone know where you were, and you turned off your phone and we thought.....Never mind, you're okay. You are okay right?" Kirsten felt overwhelming guilt. She had been too wrapped up in her own thoughts to consider that her father upon finding her gone would immediately call Sandy and the two of them would panic.

"I just needed to be alone for a little while," she told him apologetically. "I never meant to scare you. I'm so sorry." Sandy nodded, but still held onto her tightly.

"How did the doctor's appointment go?" He asked and she could see the fear in his eyes. Sandy knew it had to be bad. Otherwise Kirsten wouldn't have disappeared for hours without letting anyone know that she was okay and safe. He felt like he was going to be sick.

"It went okay," she said as he finally let go of her and they went inside the house. She was interrupted by saying anything else by Seth's body flinging itself on hers.

"And you yell at me for not calling," he said as he let go of his mother. "Next time, I'm totally bringing this up as evidence." She had to smile a little and saw Ryan hanging near the doorway, not sure if he should step in and be involved in the conversation or not.

"I'm sorry Seth, really I am," Kirsten told him.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't worried, not really, I knew that you were okay," Seth said.

"Really?" Sandy asked closing the door. "Is that why all Ryan and I have heard for the past hour is, 'Mom could be dead! She probably was taken by some creepy guy with one eye who tied her up and threw her in a trunk! And while you two are sitting there making sandwiches, my mother is dying. I hope that you can live with that.'" Ryan laughed at the uncanny impression of his foster brother, and Seth turned bright red.

"I did not say that!" Seth argued. "What I said was that she was taken by a creepy guy with a glass eye." Kirsten had to smother a giggle. "Anyway, Mom, where have you been?"

"I just went to the beach and had some me time. I just needed to think without any interruptions. But I never meant to make you guys worry, I'm sorry." She ran a hand through Seth's unruly hair and was pleasantly surprised that he let her. She was hit by a memory of holding him when he was a toddler and reading him a book as they rocked in the rocking chair that Sandy had bought when she found out that she was pregnant. To calm Seth down, she used to run a hand through his soft curls, and she missed that. She missed being able to hold him in her arms.

She would get to do that again with the new baby.

"Why don't you guys go finish putting dinner on the table?" Sandy suggested. "You must be starved honey."

"No problemo, Dad, I own the take-out cartons," Seth said as he disappeared into the kitchen. Ryan hung behind a second longer and gave Kirsten a small smile.

"I'm glad that you're okay," he said quietly as he followed behind Seth. As soon as they were out of hearing range, Sandy turned back to Kirsten.

"Well, what did the doctor say?" He asked.

"Honey, why don't we talk about this upstairs?" She suggested leading him out of the living room and up the stairs to their bedroom. She closed the door softly behind them. "Maybe you should sit down?"

"Maybe you should tell me what the doctor said before I have a heart attack," Sandy suggested. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Yes," Kirsten assured him. "I'm fine. I'm...well, I'm better than fine. I'm pregnant."

"Sorry, honey, I thought you just said that you were pregnant."

"I did," Kirsten said softly. Sandy stood there shell shocked for a moment, and Kirsten took his silence to mean that he wasn't happy, and immediately burst into tears. "This is what I was afraid of! I was afraid that you weren't going to be happy, and you're not!"

"Honey..." Sandy tried, but Kirsten was off and running.

"And now we have to tell the boys, and we all know that that's not going to go over well! And I'm going to have to take some time off of work, and my father is going to be so angry, and no one is happy about this but me!"

"Honey," Sandy grabbed her by the shoulders. "Listen to me. I'm happy." For the first time, Kirsten noticed the unbelievably big smile on his face.

"You are?" She asked in a small voice.

"Are you kidding? I'm...God, Kirsten, I'm speechless. This is amazing!" He picked her up and spun her around. "Another baby..." He leaned in and gave her a deep kiss. "But if you ever disappear like that again..."

"I won't," she promised. "Scout's honor." Sandy gave her one more kiss, and then just held her in his arms. She was pregnant. They were going to have another baby. It was just incredible really.

"There's just one problem," she said pulling away slightly. He frowned. "How do we tell the boys?"

_I tried my best to leave_

_This all on your machine_

_But the persistent beat_

_Sounded thin upon listening_

Present:

"Who ate all the General Tso's?" Seth's voice called out from the kitchen. Kirsten looked guiltily to her left where the empty container sat. Seth bounded upstairs knowing who the culprit was. "Mom! You're eating us out of house and home!"

"Sorry, you try eating for two," Kirsten replied. "Anyway, we can order more."

"I thought you wanted pizza for dinner?" Ryan asked coming up behind Seth and into Kirsten's bedroom.

"Oh that's right," Kirsten said remembering how she had had a craving for meat lover's pizza before and had requested that they order it for dinner. "I do want pizza. Sorry Seth, I promise to leave some for you the next time we order Chinese."

"Hey, speaking of dinner," Seth spoke up. "Is it okay if Summer eats here?" It was the third time that week that Summer had asked to eat over at the Cohen's, and Kirsten knew it was not because they had some history project due, or whatever else the excuses were, but that Summer just didn't want to be alone, and Kirsten couldn't blame her.

"Sure," Kirsten said. "What about Marissa, Ryan? Do you want to invite her over for some pizza?"

"I'll ask," Ryan said shrugging and ran off to find the phone to call his girlfriend.

Seth had that look on his face like he wanted to ask something, but didn't know how to form the words. This was rare for him.

"What's the matter sweetie?" Kirsten asked.

"I was just thinking about how Summer comes over here because no one is home at her house," Seth said. "I just....it must be so lonely you know?"

"I bet it is lonely," Kirsten agreed. "I don't know how anyone could leave their child." She was thinking not only about Summer's mother, but of Ryan's as well. As she looked at Seth, she couldn't imagine not knowing if he was safe, or happy.

"I'm excited, I just wanted you to know that," Seth spoke up. "I know I've teased you guys about being too old to have another baby and stuff, but I'm excited for the baby." Kirsten glanced at her son in surprise.

"That's good to know Seth," she said smiling. "But I had a suspicion that you were excited despite the front that you put up." Not knowing what else to say, Seth just nodded.

"I'm going to go call Summer," he announced and turned towards the door. "And by the way, for the record, it's still gross that you and Dad have sex. Just so that we're clear on that."

"We're definitely clear on that," Kirsten said laughing a little as Seth left. How could anyone leave their child? She placed a hand on her stomach.

She could never leave her children. Never even fathom such a situation where she would even consider it. She loved them too much to even have to be without them.

All three of them.

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I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, and please review and let me know what you thought. I promise that the rest of the song will be in the next chapter, and I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. I have three tests this week. Two on Wednesday and one on Thursday, but perhaps I will procrastinate from studying by writing the new chapter. Oh my, planning to procrastinate probably isn't a good thing. Anyway, review please!


	3. Corresponding images

Okay, so I'm about to go out and play Tequila pong (don't ask. My friend Ben ran out of beer), but I wanted to finish this and get it up before I did, because tomorrow, I'm assuming that I won't be up until well into the afternoon. Anyway, please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter and I'll try to get the next one up as soon as possible! Oh, and how amazing was the premiere?!? I counted down all day. I think by the time I had gotten to "It's on in an hour and twenty minutes!" my roommates were all ready to kill me. Anyway, review please!

Disclaimer: Um. I don't own the characters.

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"Gin!" Seth screamed out as he slammed the cards down on the bed.

"Seth, we're playing Texas Hold Em'," Ryan pointed out. Kirsten giggled, and Sandy just shook his head as Seth sheepishly picked back up his cards.

"You could have let me in on that little tidbit of information," Seth said angrily as he tried to restore some of his dignity.

"Cohen, we stopped playing Gin Rummy like fifty years ago," Summer told him rolling her eyes.

"Like ten minutes ago," Seth corrected. "It could have happened to anyone." Kirsten gasped and her hand went immediately to her stomach.

"What is it? What's the matter?" Ryan asked jumping off the bed and reaching for the phone.

"No, it's just a kick, feel," Kirsten said as she grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach. "Can you feel that?" The look on Ryan's face said that he definitely felt that.

"That's amazing," he said softly. Seth stuck his hand on his mother's stomach as well and Sandy placed a hand on Kirsten's back and leaned in and placed a kiss on her temple.

"What's it feel like?" Summer asked placing a hand on her on flat stomach.

"It's hard to explain," Kirsten said. "Come here, sweetie, give me your hand." Summer had wanted to feel it for herself, but was reluctant to place a hand alongside Seth and Ryan's. She wasn't, after all, really a part of their family, although she had made herself a permanent fixture at the Cohen house. Kirsten's warm hand grasped hers, and placed it on her stomach.

"Wow," Summer breathed. They all sat there in silence for a moment, before Sandy spoke up.

"I'm going to go make some more popcorn. Guys, want to come help me carry refills of drinks?" Seth and Ryan reluctantly moved away from Kirsten and followed Sandy out of the room leaving Kirsten and Summer alone.

If someone would have told Summer that she would be over the Cohen's house playing cards with Seth Cohen and his parents instead of at a party a year ago, she would have told them in her matter-of-fact frank way that they were full of shit.

But here she was. Marissa was supposed to be there too, but at the last minute had to go to some function with her mother and Caleb. Seth had commented that it was the first thing he would thank his sibling for when he or she arrived. Because Kirsten was on bed rest and obviously couldn't go, the rest of the family wasn't required to go to the black-tie events either. Summer had opted out of this one, knowing that she would rather hang out with Seth and his family than go to a party with people that she was slowly but surely drifting away from.

"I wanted to say," Summer started. "I just....thank you for letting me come over all the time. I know that you probably want to spend time as a family, and instead I'm butting in but...."

"Honey, we love having you over," Kirsten interrupted her. "Don't worry about it. As long as you know that I'm going to exploit you for babysitting eventually." Summer grinned.

"No problem," she told Kirsten. Summer wondered, not for the first time, what it would be like to have Kirsten Cohen as a mother. She wondered if Seth knew how lucky he was. He had never known what it was like to come home to an empty house, or to have your mother leave you, or to have your father buy your love. Much to Seth's chagrin, Sandy was always hugging his sons and trying, unsuccessfully most of the time, to kiss them as well. Sandy was just that sort of touchy-feely guy. "Hey Kirsten?"

"Yes sweetie?"

"I just....did you know my mother when she was pregnant with me?" Kirsten's heart broke for Summer.

"Sorry sweetie, I was pregnant with Seth, and Sandy and I were living up in Berkeley still at that point," Kirsten told her running a soothing hand up and down Summer's back.

"I just...I wondered if she had gotten excited at all about being pregnant...like you are, you know?" Kirsten was silent for a moment.

"I'm sure she was. She loved you Summer." But not enough to stay, Summer added silently in her head. The conversation was interrupted from going any further by the entrance of the boys.

"Dad, if you would have just listened to me and pulled the popcorn bag out when there was more than two seconds between each pop, we would not have burned the first bag. There is an art form to making popcorn, and clearly you have not yet mastered it."

"I hit the popcorn button Seth, that's what that's there for."

"Machines are not foolproof, Dad," Seth argued.

"Can you two stop and hand me the popcorn?" Kirsten asked reaching out for the bowl which Sandy handed to her. "Okay, you can continue again."

"Seth, let's just play okay?" Sandy suggested taking his seat next to his wife.

"And it's poker this time, Cohen."

_That frankly will not fly_

_You will hear_

_The shrillest highs_

_And lowest lows with_

_The windows down when this is guiding you home_

Eight months before:

Kirsten and Sandy decided that the sooner they told the boys the better. It was agreed that at dinner they would break the news to them. Kirsten still wasn't sure how they would react to finding out. She admitted to Sandy that she was actually more nervous about Ryan finding out than Seth. Although, she wasn't too eager to see Seth's reaction either.

"Hey guys, can we talk?" Sandy asked as they all finished eating.

"Yeah sure," Seth said as he pushed his empty plate away. "Does this have anything to do with why Mom disappeared today?" Seth wasn't too oblivious not to notice that his father had taken his mother's hand and was rubbing a thumb over it.

"Sort of," Kirsten admitted. "Well, I've not been feeling very well lately, and I went to the doctor's today..." She saw both of their faces start to pale, and she knew that she was panicking them both.

"Are you sick?" It was Ryan who asked this question in a small voice.

"No, no," Kirsten quickly assured him. "There's no easy way to say this...I'm pregnant."

"You're pregnant?" Seth repeated. "As in with child?"

"Yes," Kirsten nodded.

"I'm going to have a baby brother or sister?"

"Yes," Sandy chimed in. "What are you guys thinking?"

"Um....I think...that as long as you assure me that the stork is going to bring this baby and it in no way applies that you two still have sex, then I'm happy, I guess?"

"You guess?" Kirsten's eyes filled with tears, and it was the first reminder to Sandy of what was to come. With Seth, she had cried at the drop of a hat, and gotten angry just as quickly too.

"No, Mom," Seth saw the tears too, and scrambled to fix it before she started to cry. His mother was not known for her emotional outbursts, and no one quite knew what to do when she did. "It's great! Congratulations!"

"Thanks, honey," Kirsten said standing up and hugging her son. They all then looked at Ryan who was still trying to wrap his mind around it.

Kirsten was going to have another baby.

They wouldn't want him there anymore. With all the trouble that he caused? They would have to focus on the new baby, and not on an angst-ridden teenager and all the baggage that came with him.

"It's great you guys," he said forcing a smile on his face. Sandy saw right through both the smile and Ryan's lie. He and Kirsten had briefly talked about already how they would have to reassure Ryan that they wanted him there.

"Thank you sweetie," Kirsten said wrapping her arms around him.

"I'm going to go finish my homework," Ryan said wanting to leave the house and let the Cohens have this moment alone as a family. Before anyone could say anything else, he bolted from the house out to the pool house, leaving all three Cohens to wonder who should first go out and talk to him.

It was Kirsten who spoke up first.

"I'll go talk to him," she said as she headed towards the door. She knocked softly on the door and stepped in. "Can we talk?"

"Sure," Ryan said putting his book down. This was it, he knew it. They were going to ask him to leave. They were going to tell him that they would do their best to find a great foster home for him, but that they just couldn't take care of three kids, when they were only used to taking care of one.

Kirsten didn't know how to start. She didn't quite know how to get it across to Ryan that they loved him and that they wanted him there.

"Ryan this baby...it changes a lot," she started. Here it comes, he thought to himself. "But one thing that doesn't change is that we want you here. You are a part of our family now, and we love you." Well that certainly wasn't what Ryan expected to hear.

"But won't you have your hands full?" He asked softly. "You don't need the added trouble of taking care of a kid that's not yours when you have a baby."

"Who says that you aren't ours?" Kirsten replied with a smile.

_They will see us waving from such great heights_

"_Come down now"_

_They'll say_

_But everything looks perfect from such great heights_

"_Come down now"_

_But we'll stay...._

Present:

Sandy was rubbing Kirsten's back as he read the newspaper. Her due date was now a little more than a week away and they were all ready for her to go into labor. But no one was more ready than she was. She was sick of bed rest, she was sick of Sandy having to help her to the bathroom and to take a shower. She was sick of watching television, and she had finished all of her books.

It was ready for this kid to come out.

"Hey, I was thinking," Kirsten spoke up as she flipped through a book of baby names. "We should probably start seriously discussing names." They had once tried as a family to sit down and talk names, but after a few suggestions from Seth such as Thor and Stormy, they had told the boys that they would decide the name.

"Got any good ones in there?" Sandy asked.

"I don't even know where to start," Kirsten complained.

"Well, open the book to a random page and pick one out," Sandy suggested. Kirsten closed the book and opened a random page and pointed.

"Ophelia? Isn't she the character in Hamlet that drowns herself?"

"That would be her," Sandy confirmed as he continued to rub circles into Kirsten's back.

"No way is my daughter going to be named after someone who drowned."

"That includes all Shakespearean characters that die in tragic ways, right? So no Desdemona?" Kirsten sighed and threw the book down.

"This is too hard. How did we decide Seth's name?" She turned from her side to her back. Sandy shrugged. "Well, what was he going to be if he was a girl?" Both were quiet as they strained to remember.

"Maybe Seth is right," Kirsten said. "We're too old, look we already can't remember anything!"

"No, honey," Sandy said sensing that Kirsten was going to go off on one of her mood swings. "Seth is not right. Seth is never right. Seth just babbles to make noise. We're not too old. You're a wonderful mother, and this baby is going to be lucky to have you."

"Really?" Kirsten sniffled a little.

"Really," Sandy confirmed nodding. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the temple. She was a wonderful mother, and Sandy wondered for the thousandth time how he had gotten so lucky to have gotten her.

He wondered what he had done to get such a beautiful, incredible wife, and amazing children. But whatever it was, luck or if it was a higher power making up for his own crappy childhood, he wasn't going to complain. He looked down at Kirsten, who with Sandy rubbing her back, had fallen asleep.

No, he definitely wasn't going to complain.

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Okay, off I go. Tequila pong awaits! Let me know how you liked it! Thanks!


	4. Like puzzle pieces from the clay

If you've never tried it, I highly suggest Tequila Pong....of course, the morning after wasn't fun, but so totally worth it. Anyway, I hope that everyone's having a fantastic day thus far. Can you believe it's only two more weeks until Thanksgiving? This semester has flown by. And it's supposed to snow on Friday, which is wonderful because I love snow, but really sucks because my winter coat is currently at home in my closet not doing me any good...maybe my mom will send it to me. With some cookies. Or some money. Screw the cookies, I just want the money.

Disclaimer: Clearly I don't own the characters.

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Ryan bolted awake at the sound of the commotion outside his door. He threw the covers off himself and poked his head out into the hallway. Seth's head appeared in his doorway a second later. Seth rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"What's going on?" He asked. Ryan shrugged and then they heard Kirsten yell and they both ran towards her bedroom.

"Mom?" Seth asked breathlessly. She was sitting up in bed cringing. "What's the matter? Where's Dad?"

"Right here," a muffled voice came from their closet. Sandy came out with a bag in one hand and the phone in the other. The phone he handed off to Seth. "I'm taking your mother to the hospital. Wait an hour, call your grandparents and then meet us there." Sandy then quickly crossed over, placed an arm around his wife's waist and helped her to her feet.

"Are you in labor?" Ryan asked. He was now wide awake and nervously watching as Kirsten and Sandy slowly made their way out of the room.

"My water broke," Kirsten confirmed.

"Do we have to wait an hour? Can't we just come now?" Seth whined. He didn't want to miss anything.

"Seth, trust me, this is going to take awhile. You took your good old time coming out, and I'm sure that your younger sibling will follow suit," Sandy told him.

"But Dad..." Seth started.

"Fine," Sandy said. "Get dressed and meet us there." Seth grinned and he and Ryan ran back to their rooms throwing clothes on haphazardly. Sandy helped Kirsten into the car and shoved the car in reverse and peeled out of the driveway. He kept one hand on the steering wheel, and the other tightly in her grip. She had woken him up fifteen minutes before with a gentle nudge.

"Sandy?" She had said softly. And then when he didn't wake up, and a wave of contractions hit her, she hit him a little harder. "Sandy?" Nothing. She had known that her husband was a deep sleeper, but this was just ridiculous. "SANDY!" With a shove, she knocked him off the bed and that certainly woke him up.

"What was that for?" He asked rubbing the side that he had landed on.

"Sandy, I think I'm in labor." Well, that did it. Sandy jumped to his feet.

"Are you sure?"

"Well, yeah, pretty sure," Kirsten said. "Considering my water just broke."

"Right. Okay. Right. I have to...get the bag and call the hospital and call your father and my mother and wake up the boys...." Kirsten placed a calming hand on Sandy's arm. Sandy leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I love you." He placed a hand on her stomach and felt the contraction under his hand the same time that she did. She moaned and he raced into the closet to grab the bag that was already packed.

Sandy pulled up to the hospital in record time, hopped out, and ran to open Kirsten's door for her. Kirsten had the foresight to pre-register, and Sandy didn't have to fill out any paper work, which meant that he didn't have to leave his wife's side for a second. They got her situated and Sandy sat down next to her, her hand in his, and got ready for what he saw to be a very long night ahead of them.

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It was Julie who answered the phone when Seth called his grandfather's house.

"Hello?" She asked sleepily. In Julie's experience, late night calls were never a good thing, and she immediately wondered what had happened.

"Um, this is Seth," he said. He still wasn't sure what to call her. Julie? Mrs. Nichol? Grandma? For some reason, Seth didn't think Julie would appreciate him calling her Grandma. In fact, he could foresee her throttling him.

"Seth, it's three in the morning," Julie complained looking at the clock next to her. Caleb stirred and opened his eyes. "What could you possibly want?"

"Who is it?" He asked.

"Seth."

"Is Kirsten in labor?" Caleb was wide awake now, and Julie wondered why she hadn't thought of that.

"Mom's in labor," Seth announced on the phone. "Dad just took her to the hospital and Ryan and I are on our way."

"We'll be there soon," Julie told him hanging up the phone to fill in her husband on the details.

"Who is next?" Ryan asked. He was driving while Seth was making the phone calls.

"The Nana," Seth said. He dialed his grandmother's number in New York. It was six in the morning there, and since Sophie Cohen was an early riser, she picked up on the first ring.

"Hello?"

"Nana? It's Seth."

"Sethela! It's three in the morning there, isn't it?"

"Mom's in labor," Seth explained.

"I'll get on the first flight I can," Sophie told her grandson. "How's your mother doing?"

"I don't know," Seth admitted. "It happened so fast. We're on our way to the hospital now."

"I'll call you when I know when my flight is," Sophie said.

"Okay."

"And send your mother my love, and tell her good luck," Sophie said. There was a stunned pause on the other end. "Seth, I don't hate her. She's having my grandchild right now, the least I can do is send my love." Seth finished up the conversation with his grandmother, and then hung up the phone.

"Anyone left to call?" Ryan asked.

"I promised Summer I'd call, but I'm wondering if I should wait. I really want to live to see my new brother or sister, and I'm afraid that she will rip out my jugular if I wake her up." But Summer had insisted that she be called the minute something happened. She had become quite attached to Kirsten, and Seth sometimes wondered if that was necessarily a good thing.

"Call her," Ryan suggested. "She'll kill you if the baby is born and she's not informed."

"I'm damned if I do, I'm damned if I don't," Seth moaned. He dialed Summer's number and she answered with,

"What the hell Cohen?"

"My mother went into labor," Seth said quickly.

"No way! That's so exciting. Are you at the hospital now?"

"We just pulled up," Seth said. "If you want to, you can come down in a few hours."

"A few hours?" Summer repeated and he could hear that she was heartbroken.

"Well, you can come now, but my dad said that it's going to be a long night, and I didn't know if you wanted to get some more sleep....you can come down whenever you want."

"I'll be down as soon as I can throw some clothes on and leave a note for my dad," Summer told him and then she hung up the phone. Summer grabbed some jeans and threw on a sweater, as she scribbled a note for father. The sad part was that she knew that she really didn't have to leave him a note. He probably wouldn't have noticed her missing in the morning, but just in case, she left the note on the kitchen table and started her car and drove to the hospital.

Seth was so lucky, she thought for the millionth time. Not only did he have super parents, but he had Ryan and now a new baby sibling.

What did she have? Her father who was never around, and her stepmother who was too doped up on painkillers to actually notice Summer.

But she wouldn't think about that. Tonight she was going to pretend to be a part of the Cohen family.

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Kirsten's contractions were closer together, and Sandy was holding her hand and brushing the damp pieces of blonde hair from her forehead.

"Oh God," she moaned and she tightened her grip on Sandy's hand.

"Oh God is right," he muttered to himself, but focused on her and her pain instead of the throbbing in his right hand. He would have to subtly switch hands so that if she was going to break something, it would be in his left hand. Instead of voicing his pains, he stroked her hair, and told her that to breathe through the pain and that it was all going to be over soon.

"Breathe through the pain?" Kirsten yelled at him. "Let's try to push a watermelon out of your nose and tell you all the while to breathe through the pain! Oh God, Sandy. Make it stop, make it go away. Get this damned kid out of me!" Tears were rolling down her face and it broke Sandy's heart.

"I'm sorry gorgeous," Sandy said as he kissed her forehead. "I would if I could."

"You are never touching me again," she warned. Sandy just nodded. It was what she had yelled at him when Seth was born too. It was better to try to not piss her off any further.

The doctor came in to check on her, and announced that it was time to take Kirsten to the delivery room.

"Already?" Sandy asked glancing at his watch. It was seven in the morning. Kirsten had been in labor with Seth for twelve hours. Only four had passed this time. And while Kirsten would argue that four was still an awfully long time, it was much shorter than Seth's.

"Oh thank God," Kirsten exclaimed collapsing against the bed after her series of contractions were through. The last time that Sandy had checked out in the waiting room, Seth, Summer, Marissa, and Ryan were all playing a game of cards, Caleb was asleep in the chair, and Julie was reading Vogue. His mother had gotten on a flight about an hour ago and was due to arrive in another three hours. Sandy had been sure that she would make it in time, but it seemed that she wouldn't.

He had barely enough time to run into the waiting room before they took her up.

"They're taking her to the delivery room right now," Sandy announced.

"So soon?" Seth asked. Sandy nodded, all grins, and ran back to join his wife.

"I thought that this was going to take hours?" Seth questioned. Ryan shrugged and returned to the card game.

"Don't question it, for your mother's sake, and for ours, just be glad that this kid was eager to make an entrance in this world," Julie commented not looking up from the magazine.

"What do you think it's going to be?" Summer asked getting bored and placing her cards down.

"A boy," Seth said. "It has to be a boy. I have to have an heir to teach my ways."

"I hope it's a girl," Marissa said sticking her tongue out at Seth and grinning. "Just to make Seth mad, and because the last thing we need is another Seth Cohen." Both Ryan and Summer laughed, and Seth looked insulted.

"This is true," Ryan said.

"Well, what do you think Ryan? Boy or girl?" Summer asked.

"I don't care," Ryan said.

"I didn't ask if you cared what it would be, I asked what you thought it would be," Summer said. "I think it's going to be a girl too."

"A boy," Caleb spoke up. They all glanced over in surprise. They had thought that he was still sleeping. "Maybe a football player this time."

"Have they picked out a name?" Julie asked putting her magazine down and deciding that this conversation was more interesting, albeit ever so slightly, than the article that she was reading.

"Not that I know of," Seth said.

"Well that's because after Seth mentioned the name Moonbeam, they stopped letting us be involved in that conversation," Ryan said rolling his eyes. They all discussed names that they thought the new Baby Cohen could be called until a giddy Sandy appeared in the doorway to the waiting room grinning from ear to ear.

"How's Kirsten?" Ryan asked immediately.

"She's exhausted. She was amazing though," Sandy said smiling.

"So, is it a boy that I can mold to follow my ways?" Seth asked.

"Sorry son," Sandy said. "It's a little girl. Ten fingers, ten toes. Seven pounds, three ounces. She's perfect. She looks just like her mother already."

"Well, I guess that's okay," Seth said. "I can still mold her."

"Congratulations," Summer said hitting her boyfriend on the arm.

"Can we see Kirsten?" Ryan asked. "And the baby?"

"Sure, they're still cleaning them both up, but in a few minutes you can come back. Just be gentle with Kirsten, she's still trying to recover." Ryan nodded, and Sandy disappeared behind the double doors.

"A girl!" Marissa and Summer squealed.

"A granddaughter," Caleb said grinning.

"Sorry Grandpa, no football player," Seth said placing a hand on his grandfather's shoulders.

"Maybe next time," Julie said shrugging.

"Next time?" Seth looked horrified at the thought. "No this is it. We're a three children family." His parents weren't having sex ever again. Seth had finally accepted that they had sex twice to produce both him and now his baby sister, but that was it.

Ryan meanwhile, couldn't stop grinning. Three children. He was one of those three children. It was amazing that they considered him a son.

But what was more amazing was that he considered them to be his family as well. And he couldn't wait to see Kirsten and the new baby.

His new baby sister.

"Come on back guys," Sandy's voice interrupted his thoughts and Ryan followed his excited brother back to their sister.

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Okay, so that seems like a good enough place as any to stop for now. The next chapter will be up as soon as I can get it up. Please, please review and tell me what you thought of it! And if you have any good name suggestions, I'm a little stuck on a name for her. I have two that I really like, but I'm open to suggestions.


	5. Mirror images

So thanks so much for reviewing! You guys rock my socks! Here's the next chapter, I hope that you like it. Speaking of names, my aunt just had a baby and named her Elsa. Elsa?!? As my other cousin said, "Do they hate her already?" (If your name is Elsa, I apologize, but I believe it's a fairly awful name, you probably disagree....) Anyway, please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters...and please don't sue me. I have....well, a ticket stub for "The Polar Express" and....a fruit roll up, and...oh look a five! That's awesome! Please don't take my five dollars.

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Ryan knocked lightly on the door and heard a soft,

"Come in." Kirsten was in the hospital bed, her normally perfect hair was plastered to her forehead, but she had never looked more beautiful. She had a large grin on her face and a bundle of pink blankets in her arms.

"Hey guys," she said softly as they stepped into the room. "Come meet your sister."

"She's so tiny," Seth breathed as he stepped closer.

"You were that tiny too," Sandy said coming up behind both his sons and placing a hand on each of their shoulders. "Once upon a time, you know, before you became moody teenagers."

"Can I hold her?" Ryan asked Kirsten looking down at the sleeping baby in awe.

"Sure," Kirsten said smiling. She went through a quick lesson on how to hold the baby properly before transferring her into Ryan's extended arms.

"Support her head," Sandy reminded with a smile.

"So what shall we call her? Because I mean, Baby Girl Cohen does have a certain ring to it, but I think she might get beat up on the playground," Seth said waiting for his turn to hold his sister.

"We were thinking Lily," Sandy said smiling as Ryan handed the baby gently to Seth. "After my grandmother and Kirsten's mother, Lillian Catherine Cohen."

"Lily," Seth whispered looking down at the baby. "It's not Moonbeam, but...I like it." Kirsten and Sandy both laughed. The baby started fussing and Seth hurriedly handed her back to his mother.

"She's beautiful," Ryan told Kirsten.

"She looks like her mother," Sandy said leaning down and kissing his wife lightly on the lips.

"Hey, Dad, none of that hanky panky around Lily, she's still young and easily scarred," Seth teased. Sandy reached out and smacked him on the back of his head. He looked down at his wife who was cradling their daughter, and at his sons who were currently arguing about the things that they could teach Lily. Well, actually it was mostly Seth talking and Ryan watching the baby and half heartedly listening.

"I'm going to teach her all about comic books," Seth grinned. "And music! She'll have the greatest musical taste of any other baby."

"What about you Ryan?" Kirsten asked looking up at him. "What will you teach her?"

"Dude, teach her how to convey everything in one look," Seth told him seriously. "That's a talent." Sandy laughed.

"There you go, Ryan," Sandy said. "That's a skill that she can inherit from her big brother."

Ryan laughed lightly, but gazed thoughtfully down at his sister. She was going to have the best attributes from all of them, he decided. Maybe she would look like Kirsten, and so she would be heartbreakingly beautiful, and maybe inherit her mother's kindness, and maybe she would have Sandy's sense of humor and his optimism. Maybe from Seth she will get the ability to ramble on at a thousand words per second, and an enviable vocabulary.

And from Ryan? Well, he would have to sit her down when she was old enough and teach her "the look" as Seth had dubbed it, but mostly he would teach her all about how her family had their sets of problems, and they could be a little odd sometimes, but they loved each other, and that was the greatest thing that you could ask for. He would make sure that she knew how lucky she was to be born into this family, with these parents, and these brothers. Ryan would protect her, and make sure that no one messed with his baby sister.

And she was his. She was all of theirs.

"Well, maybe I could teach her how to cook," Ryan finally said looking up at Kirsten and grinning. "Something that normally mothers teach their daughters, but in this case probably would be better left up to someone else."

"Oh! He got you there Mom!" Seth cried out. Kirsten feigned insult, but joined in the laughter. When she yawned, Sandy immediately went into over-protective mode.

"Hey, guys, your mother needs to get some sleep," he said.

"Is this your polite way of kicking us out?" Seth asked.

"Well, yes, and get out," Sandy told him. He took Lily out of Kirsten's arms and Ryan walked over and gave Kirsten a hug and she was surprised, but recovered quickly and hugged him back.

"Really, Kirsten, she's beautiful," he said sincerely before following Seth out. Sandy placed a kiss on Lily's forehead before placing her in the bassinet and then crossed to give Kirsten a kiss on the forehead too.

"Get some sleep," he said softly. She nodded and took one more look over at Lily sleeping before closing her eyes. "You did great. She's great." Kirsten, her eyes closed, reached over and grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. She opened her eyes a little to smile at him.

"Well, I had some help."

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Two days later, Summer and Marissa were helping Ryan and Seth blow up balloons and hang up streamers and a welcome home banner.

"A little higher on the left," Summer said tilting her head as Seth stood on a teetering chair to hang the banner. "No, down a little bit....okay, wait, no up a little ! Up! Are you listening?" Seth sighed, taped his side of the banner up and hopped off the chair.

"I'm done," he announced.

"But Cohen! It's not straight!" Summer argued.

"Like Lily cares, she's two days old," Seth retorted.

"Kirsten will notice," Marissa pointed out as she hung the last of her balloons and stood back to admire their work. Seth just waved his hand in the air and dismissed her statement.

"Hey, can we go see the nursery?" Summer asked.

"Summer, we've taken you to see it already," Seth said sighing.

"One more time," she said as she ran towards the steps. The nursery was right next to Sandy and Kirsten's bedroom, although Lily wouldn't sleep in there at first. Sandy had taken a little bit of time the day before while Kirsten was resting to finish the nursery. They had bought the essentials, but were waiting to see if they should decorate in pink or blue, and Sandy went out and bought everything he could in pink. They all trooped up the stairs and Summer and Marissa awed over the tiny pink sleepers, and the pink ribbons that were now tied on the crib.

"It's so cute!" Summer exclaimed. "It looks adorable."

"It looks like someone threw up Pepto Bismal," Ryan muttered.

"Completely different shade of pink," Marissa argued. "This is a pale pink. Sandy did good, Kirsten is going to love it." They heard a car pull up into the driveway and all four bounded down the stairs.

"They're home!" Summer cried as they heard Sandy and Kirsten's voices. The front door opened and Kirsten stepped in holding Lily, and Sandy stepped in holding the carrier and all the other various baby paraphernalia.

"Oh you guys!" Kirsten exclaimed as she spotted the decorations.

"Welcome home," they said in unison.

"Thank you," Kirsten said beaming.

"Can I hold her?" Summer asked, and behind her Seth began to whine that she was his sister and that if anyone should hold her first it should be him. "You'll get to hold her all the time," Summer snapped as Kirsten placed Lily in her arms. "Oh my God, she's so cute."

"Hey, can you guys watch her for like two minutes?" Sandy asked. "It's not hard, just don't drop her or let Seth corrupt her. I want to show Kirsten something." He winked at them and the four kids nodded as Sandy led his wife up to the nursery.

"What is it?" she asked as they came to the closed door.

"You'll see," Sandy said as he stood behind her and placed his hands over her eyes and opened the door. When he uncovered her eyes, she gasped.

"Oh Sandy! It's gorgeous!" And it was. While she had picked out the dark oak crib, dresser, and changing table, he had added accents to it. There was a new rocking chair in the corner with light pink cushions and white pillows. The canopy on the crib was white, but was tied back with pink ribbons, and the curtains were white but trimmed in the same matching pink. And in the crib sat a new pink teddy bear and a pink blanket with the name "Lily" embroidered on it.

"You like it?"

"Oh Sandy, I love it! When did you do this?"

"Yesterday," he said.

"It's wonderful," she grinned and turned around and kissed him. "Thank you." Sandy wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. They stood there for a moment, just holding onto to one another until they heard the baby begin to wail and Ryan's voice say,   
"Seth, what did you do?"

"We're never going to get alone time ever again are we?" Sandy asked leaning his forehead against Kirsten's. She laughed.

"I don't think so," she said as she hurried downstairs to her daughter.

Her daughter. She had a daughter. The truth was that she had been slightly disappointed that Seth was a boy. Not that she didn't love Seth from the moment that she saw him, but she had always wanted a little girl to dress up and take ballet lessons, and have her be the lead debutante in the Cotillion. And now she had that.

"I didn't do anything!" Seth claimed as soon as she came into the living room. She laughed as she took Lily into her arms.

"I know, honey, she's hungry," Kirsten as she moved to sit down and feed her.

"Ew, gross Mom! Are you going to do that here?" Seth asked and Sandy walked into the living room with an amused look on his face as he draped a blanket over the baby.

"I think that's a yes," Marissa said grinning.

"I think that it's our cue to leave," Ryan said as he and Seth bolted from the room. Sandy laughed as Summer's voice came floating back to them,

"Oh come on, it's beautiful. Don't be such asses."

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As Kirsten and Sandy lay in bed that night, she cuddled up against him and smiled to herself.

"Do you remember when Ryan and Seth bought that bear for us?" She asked laughing a little bit.

"Of course," Sandy replied. Early on in her pregnancy, Seth and Ryan had decided to do something nice for their parents to show that they were okay with Kirsten's pregnancy. About a week or two after they had announced that she was going to have a baby, Seth and Ryan went off to Fashion Island to see what they could use symbolically to show they were happy.

"A teddy bear, Ryan!" Seth exclaimed as they walked into the toy store. "A little teddy bear. It's brilliant."

"What about a music box?" Ryan asked looking over at the store across the mall that sold music boxes and snowglobes. "Or a snowglobe?"

"A snowglobe?! We live in California, there is no snow here," Seth argued. "No, a teddy bear is perfect." Ryan knew better than to argue, instead he went into the toy store and stood while Seth contemplated over what bear said, "We're kind of grossed out, but still really happy."

"Just pick one out," Ryan sighed.

"One minute, the picking of a teddy bear is an art form. Our sibling will have this bear for the rest of their life. They will cherish it, and it has to be a good one."

"Seth, a stuffed animal is a stuffed animal."

"No! This bear will be their Captain Oats."

"Maybe the baby will not grow up a nerd and will not talk to their toys," Ryan innocently suggested. "Maybe the baby will be normal." Seth ignored his insults and finally settled on one and they went to pay for it.

"Hey can we stop for a pretzel?" Seth asked spying the soft pretzel stand. "I'm starving, and as always am a sucker for the pretzely goodness."

"Fine," Ryan rolled his eyes as they walked towards the pretzel stand. Seth placed the bag down as he paid and the two ate as they walked towards the car.

"Perfect timing," Seth said as an announcement that the mall was closing came up over the loudspeaker. They climbed in, and Seth suddenly looked around.

"Where's the bear?"

"You had it."

"I put it down, I thought you picked it up!"

"No."

"Well, then let's go back and get it!"

"Seth, the mall is closing," Ryan pointed out.

"Well, then we better hurry," Seth said as he clambered out of the car and started to sprint towards the mall. Ryan sighed, but followed, and because he was in better shape that Seth caught up to him easily. The two ran through the double doors and hurried to the pretzel stand where the bag was laying exactly where Seth had put it down.

"Hey, can we stop at a bathroom?" Seth asked. "The lemonade went right through me."

"Fine," Ryan sighed. "Hurry up." Seth hurried into the bathroom and just as he was finished and they were heading back towards the door, the lights shut off and only the safety lights were on.

"Oh shit," Seth breathed as they sprinted towards the exit only to find it already closed and locked. "What do we do now?"

"We go try and find a security guard," Ryan said as he turned around and headed back into the mall.

"Hey! You kids! What are you doing in here?" They heard the shout and turned around.

"We got locked in," Ryan explained. "We were just trying to find a security guard to let us out."

"Right," the security guard sneered.

"No, really," Seth argued. "We forgot our bag and came back in to get it and realized that we were locked in."

"Uh-huh, come on boys, we're calling your parents," the guard grabbed each roughly by their arms and dragged them back towards the office. "What's your parent's number?"

"345-156-3994," Seth mumbled. He hoped his dad would answer and give this security guard a piece of his mind. The inherit injustice of it all. Here they were trying to do a nice thing and look where that had gotten them.

"This all your fault," Ryan whispered.

"What how?"

"You were the one who had to have a pretzel. If it wasn't for that damned pretzel, we would be on our way home." Seth huffed.

"Fine, blame it on me. But really you should blame the delicious goodness of the pretzel."

"Sir, we really weren't doing anything wrong, we really did just get locked in here," Ryan said. The guard studied them for a moment and finally nodded.

"I still have to call your parents to have them come get you because you're minors," the guard said.

"Really? Because we have our car here, we can drive ourselves home," Seth said and Ryan smacked him on the back of the head.

"That's fine," he said. The guard dialed their number and they heard his side of the conversation before he hung up and turned to Seth and Ryan.

"Your parents are on their way to pick you up," the security guard said. "Let me see that bag." Seth reluctantly handed over the bag and the guard looked inside. "A teddy bear?"

"It's not for us," Seth quickly said. "My mother is pregnant and it's for her. By the way, what parent did you talk to?"

"Your mother."

"Crap, Dad would find this a lot funnier than she's going to. Especially with her hormones raging the way that they are," Seth mumbled. They followed the guard out of the office and through the dark mall to the front entrance. The guard stood there with them until the BMW came to an abrupt stop and Sandy got out of the driver's seat and Kirsten climbed out of the passenger seat.

"I'm sorry about this," Sandy said.

"No, it's not a problem, I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions," the guard apologized. "Next time, just be sure that you're out of the mall when it closes." He turned and went back inside leaving the family standing out on the sidewalk. Seth braced himself for the lecture that was going to come, but after a minute he realized that his parents were laughing.

"You guys got locked in? How did you manage that one?!" Sandy was laughing so hard. Seth and Ryan began to tell the story.

"And it was so unfair Dad! We didn't even do anything, and then he wouldn't let us just leave, because he didn't believe us...and it's just because we're teenagers. It's age discrimination," Seth whined.

"What was so important that you had to go back for?" Kirsten asked.

"Oh yeah," Seth said looking down at the bag in his hand. "This was for you." She opened it up and pulled out the bear and immediately got weepy.

"Oh boys! Thank you so much," she pulled them in for a hug. She began to cry harder.

"We didn't mean to make you cry," Ryan said hurriedly.

"Oh get used to this," Sandy said as he placed an arm around his wife and helped her back into the car. "We'll see you guys at home, try not to get yourselves locked anywhere else in the ten minutes it takes to get home."

"Haha, very funny," Seth had replied dryly. The bear was now infamous as was the story. Marissa and Summer had especially enjoyed it when Sandy and Kirsten had told them the first time.

"I still can't believe they locked themselves in the mall," Kirsten said laughing as she leaned into Sandy's embrace.

"I know, but they were right, that security guard was completely out of line," Sandy argued.

The baby's wails interrupted their reminiscing and Kirsten climbed out to pick up Lily.

"This is just the start of this, isn't it?" She asked Sandy smiling as she settled down in bed to feed Lily. Sandy placed a kiss on the top of Lily's head.

"I sure hope so," he said smiling.

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and let me know if you want me to keep going about their lives with a baby. The mall story? Totally happened to me. And the guard seriously did not believe us and called our parents to pick us up, it was completely unfair!I'm actually still a little bitter about it....Anyway, review please! I'm off to class.


	6. Come down now

Well, I hope that everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving! I'm leaving in a little bit to go home, and I'm soooo excited. Hmm, turkey, and mashed potatoes, and anything that's not campus food! Here's the next chapter, it's just something a little nice and sweet as a Thanksgiving treat (oooh, I didn't even mean to rhyme!) I have to go pack now. Because I haven't done that yet. Oops. Enjoy! And let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: No, not mine. Not even a little bit.

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"You have our numbers, call if you need anything," Kirsten told Seth as she shoved a list of numbers into his hands. "The pediatrician's number is on the fridge. There's breast milk…"

"Mom, don't say breast," Seth interrupted.

"There's breast milk in the fridge," Kirsten ignored Seth and kept going. "She's needs to eat in about an hour. Make sure that it's not too hot."

"Come on honey, we're going to miss our reservations," Sandy pointed out glancing at his watch. "Give Lily to the boys." Kirsten looked down at her three-month-old daughter who was asleep in her arms.

"I don't think this is a good idea," she said turning to go back to her bedroom to change out the of the dress that she had put on when Sandy announced that they were going out for dinner, just the two of them, and that the boys would be watching the baby.

"We've got it under control," Ryan assured her. "Lily will be fine. Go out to dinner and enjoy a night out."

"But…"

"Mom. Please, we can do this. We can totally do this. She's our baby sister, we're not going to let anything happen to her. If you can't trust us, who can you trust?" Seth asked.

"The nanny? Your grandfather? Summer? Marissa? The mailman?" Kirsten started listing off names. Then her face broke into a small smile. "You're right. I just…"

"She was like this the first time she left you too," Sandy told Seth. The nanny that they had hired started on Monday and Kirsten was going to go back to work part time. The night out was a sort of test run, to see how both Lily and Kirsten would do. They had thought that Kirsten would feel better about leaving the baby the first time if it was with the boys and only for a few hours. Sandy was honestly more concerned about his wife than his daughter at this point.

"Kirsten, hand over the baby," Ryan finally commanded. Kirsten looked longingly down at Lily and finally kissed the top of her head, and handed her to Sandy. Sandy did the same before giving Ryan the baby and with a hand on the small of her back, leading Kirsten out of the house to the car. She kept turning around looking back at the house as Seth waved and closed the door.

"Honey, they're going to be just fine. Lily is in great hands," Sandy assured her.

"I know that," Kirsten sighed. "I just…I don't want to leave her. I want to just never have to leave her." Sandy leaned over and placed a kiss on her temple before starting the car.

"I know sweetie," he said as he placed it in drive and pulled out of the driveway. "But we have to." Kirsten nodded and glanced back at the house one more time.

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"We have this totally under control," Seth said. "I don't know why Mom was so worried." He tickled Lily's chin as he placed her underneath the plaything that their mother had bought for her. It lit up and played the most annoying songs in the world that reminded Seth of a demented ice cream truck, but it kept Lily occupied and not crying. Seth and Ryan turned on the video game and kept an eye on Lily as their ninjas battled it out.

For twenty minutes this worked, and then the baby started to cry.

"I bet she's hungry," Ryan said hopping up to get her a bottle. They tried feeding her, but she wouldn't eat, and they checked her diaper, but that was fine too.

"Maybe she just needs held," Seth suggested. So the two took turns holding Lily and rocking her back and forth. "Nothing works with this kid!"

"Maybe we should your parents?" Ryan finally spoke up. "She's not calming down." Seth sighed. They had tried everything, and Lily was screaming. It was time to call his mother, and have her come home and try something. Maybe Lily just simply wanted Kirsten. It was a possibility.

"Call Dad first. Maybe he'll think of something that we didn't, you know, before we get Mom all in a panic."

"Good thinking," Ryan said and he dialed Sandy's cell phone number.

"Who is it?" Kirsten asked immediately when Sandy's phone began to vibrate. "Is it the boys? Is Lily okay?"

"Honey, I haven't answered the phone yet," Sandy said pulling it out. He didn't tell his wife right away that it was, in fact, their sons. There was no need to worry her.

"Sandy? This is Ryan. We've tried everything, and Lily will not stop crying." Sandy sighed inwardly. So much for the rest of their evening out.

"What have you tried?"

"Feeding her, changing her, holding her, rocking her, singing to her, you name it, we've tried it."

"We'll be home as soon as we can," Sandy told him. Kirsten was looking at him expectantly when he hung up. "That was Ryan. They've tried everything and Lily will not calm down."

"We need to go home," Kirsten said gathering her things. "Pay the bill, let's go home." Sandy did as he was told, and followed her out to the car. He peeled out of the restaurant parking lot and looked over at his wife.

"I'm sure Lily's fine," Sandy told her. "She probably just needs her mother." Kirsten nodded, unconvinced. Sandy reached over and took her slender hand in his and gave it a squeeze. They made it home in record time, and Kirsten was out of the car before Sandy even had a chance to park it. She ran into the house and followed the sound of her daughter screaming.

"Mom, thank God!" Seth breathed handing his sister to his mother.

"Sandy!" Kirsten cried out when Sandy came in. "She's really warm." She turned to Ryan. "Can you grab the thermometer for me?"

"Sure," he said before disappearing into the kitchen. He appeared a second later and handed it to Kirsten.

"101.7," Kirsten read taking in a sharp breath.

"I'll call the pediatrician," Sandy said grabbing the phone and dialing the number.

"I'm so sorry Mom," Seth said. "We ruined your night out."

"You didn't do it Seth," she assured him. "You guys did exactly what you were supposed to." Lily continued to wail, and Kirsten held her close and rocked her gently.

"The doctor said to bring her in," Sandy said. Kirsten nodded and started towards the door. Sandy grabbed the diaper bag and followed his wife to the car. "We'll be back soon."

"She's going to be okay, right?" Ryan asked as Sandy was leaving.

"She's going to be just fine. It's probably a cold or something, nothing to worry about," Sandy told him and gave them a reassuring smile as he disappeared out the door.

"I'm going to call Summer," Seth announced when the door was shut. Summer would calm him down. Then again, there was the risk that Summer would panic too. Summer adored Lily, and she was over all the time. She and Kirsten were supposed to take the baby on Saturday to go shopping and get some lunch.

"Cohen? Aren't you supposed to be watching Lily?" Summer asked as soon as she answered the phone.

"The greetings have really gone downhill," Seth said dryly. "No hello? Lily's sick. My parents had to come home and take her to the doctor."

"Is she okay? What's that matter?"

"She has a fever and she won't stop crying. My dad said there's nothing to worry about," Seth said. "He seemed fairly calm about the whole thing, so I'm sure that there's nothing to worry about."

"What about your mother?"

"She's kind of panicked. She didn't say much. They came in, took Lily's temperature, and left."

"I'll be right over."

"Okay."

"Cohen."

"Yeah?"

"Kids get fevers all the time. I know that it's Lily, and so the stakes get raised, but kids get fevers all the time. There's nothing to worry about." And Seth hung up feeling a whole lot better than he had when his parents had rushed out of the house with his baby sister. Who would have thought that Summer would be the level-headed one?

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"It's an ear infection," the pediatrician informed Kirsten and Sandy. "Just an ear infection. She's going to be just fine. A little cranky, but just fine. I'm going to give you some drops for her ears, and if you just place a warm cloth on it, it should relieve some of the pain."

"And the fever?" Kirsten asked glancing down at her daughter, who had cried herself out and now was sleeping fitfully.

"I'll give you something that should lower the fever," Dr. Halstead told her.

"Thank you," Sandy said wrapping a reassuring arm around Kirsten's waist. As the doctor walked out, Sandy wrapped her completely in his arms.

"I hate when they get sick," Kirsten mumbled into his shirt.

"I know," Sandy told her kissing her forehead.

"She's only three months, and already she's ruined our night out. I think Seth is teaching her well," Kirsten said laughing a little.

"You look beautiful tonight, did I tell you that?" Sandy asked.

"Sandy, please. I'm a mess right now." Kirsten's dress and coat were covered in spit up and something sticky that Kirsten couldn't quite identify. Her hair, which had been so nicely done, was now falling down around her face, and she looked exhausted.

But she still looked beautiful to Sandy.

"Still beautiful to me," he told her. The door opened and the doctor reappeared.

"Here you go Mrs. Cohen," Dr. Halstead handed Kirsten a bag and she thanked him as Sandy picked up Lily in her carrier and they went out to the car. Sandy strapped Lily and they began their way home.

"We're too old for this again," Kirsten said sighing as she rested her head on the back of the seat. Sandy laughed, and again took her hand in his.

"Don't admit that to Seth," he told her. "We'll never hear the end of it."

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"What about this one?" Summer asked holding up a tiny pink outfit.

"I think it's adorable," Kirsten said. "But I also think that if I get anymore pink, Sandy's going to kill me." Summer pouted slightly and placed the pink outfit back. They were on their outing, which they had postponed by a day so that Kirsten could ensure that Lily was completely better. Summer glanced down at the many bags that they were holding, and that were overflowing from the bottom of the stroller.

"I think it's time to eat," Summer decided.

"Good idea, we should eat while she's sleeping," Kirsten agreed as they made their way to the car.

"Thanks for inviting me," Summer said softly.

"Oh honey," Kirsten said placing the arm that wasn't pushing the stroller around Summer. "Thanks for coming. None of the boys want to shop with me, and it's no fun shopping by yourself. You saved me from having to break down and ask Julie." Kirsten shuddered at the thought, and Summer laughed.

"From someone who has had some pretty bad stepmothers, let me be the first to tell you that you take the cake for the worst," Summer told her. Kirsten had to laugh as she gently lifted Lily out of the stroller and placed her in the car seat without waking her up.

"So where to for lunch?" Kirsten asked as she started the car. "Where's the hip new place you kids go to?" Summer shrugged. She didn't care where they went. She adored Kirsten. She wanted to be just like her, she decided. She wanted to have the career, and the wonderful kids, and the husband that worshiped you, and the whole perfect life. And while she knew that Kirsten's life wasn't actually perfect, she couldn't help but think that Kirsten's life was far better than anyone else she knew.

Except for maybe Cohen. Cohen definitely had the perfect life. After all, he had the perfect parents, who loved each other and him, he had a brother finally, and now a sister. And he had Summer. Or really, she had him, which made her think that maybe her life wasn't so terrible after all, because she had Seth, and thus she belonged to the Cohens by association.

"You decide," Summer told Kirsten nodding. Kirsten pulled into the parking lot of the Crab Shack a few minutes later.

"I have such a hankering for oysters," Kirsten confessed.

"You know what they say about oysters," Summer told Kirsten winking, and Kirsten threw back her head and laughed.

"I thought you would be grossed out thinking about Sandy and I in that way," Kirsten admitted.

"Seth might be, but hey, eighteen years and three kids later? I hope that I'm still having sex as much as you two….was that too much of an overshare?" Summer added when she noticed that Kirsten had turned bright red.

"I just…we don't have….that much…."

"Kirsten," Summer said (she also loved that Kirsten allowed her to call her by her first name. She was really the first adult that had not only allowed her to call her by her first name, but insisted on it.) "You and Sandy are like teenagers, there are more sexual references in your house than in _Sex and the City_. But trust me, that's a good thing."

"Oh Summer," Kirsten just replied laughing. "I'm so glad that you approve." And the two disappeared into the restaurant to eat lunch.

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I thought maybe one more chapter about their lives with Lily, because it's something to get my mind off of finals, which are rapidly approaching, so I need something fluffy. But I hope that you still like it, and let me know! Thanks!


	7. But we'll stay

This, I think, will be the last chapter. I hope that everyone had a good Thanksgiving. It's almost Christmas, and this pleases me. I freaking love Christmas. I'm already in a holly jolly mood. And only a week more of classes and then finals and then I'm done! I don't like to think about finals, it only depresses me. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this and please let me know what you thought. I'm going to bed, it's been a long day. I had a stupid stats test that kicked my ass, unfortunately. Bah. I hate stats. Make me feel better.

Disclaimer: Um, yeah, they aren't mine.

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"Daddy!" Four year old Lily catapulted herself into Sandy's arms as he walked in the door.

"Hey there Silly Lily, is Mommy home yet?" He asked picking her up and carrying her into the kitchen. Their nanny, Leah, was sitting at the table with an abandoned coloring book and crayons of every color scattered around. Lily shook her head and her blond curls went flying in every direction.

"No, Mrs. Cohen just called, she's stuck in a meeting," Leah explained.

"Thanks Leah," Sandy told her. "Hey, what are you in the mood for? Chinese? Or Mexican? I could call Kirsten and ask her to pick up some burritos on the way home?"

"Did I hear burrito?" Ryan asked coming in the door and dropping his bag on the floor.

"Ryan!" Lily cried jumping out of Sandy's arms and running to her brother who scooped her up.

"Hey Lil," Ryan said giving her a wet kiss on the cheek.

"Ryan? What are you doing home? You aren't supposed to be home until Saturday," Sandy asked coming over to give his son a hug. Ryan shifted Lily to one arm so that he could give Sandy a return hug. "Kirsten's going to be over the moon when she sees you." Ryan smiled and shrugged.

"My classes got cancelled for today," he said. "So I hitched a ride down early." Both Ryan and Seth were now juniors in college. But they hadn't gone to same school like both their parents had expected. Instead Ryan chose Sandy and Kirsten's alma mater Berkeley, and Seth had gone clear across the country to attend Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. That move had surprised everyone, especially Summer who was going to the University of Southern California. Her reaction had been typical.

"Pittsburgh? Ew. Cohen. It snows there like all the time."

"I know," Seth said grinning. "I can't wait for the snow. What can I say Summer? I think I was meant for the east coast." Summer had campaigned hard to get him to pick somewhere else, but in the end it did no good. Seth wanted to go, and there was nothing that she could do about it. He assured her several times that him choosing Pittsburgh had nothing to do with Anna.

"If I see her, I will give her a hug and then run the other way," he promised.

"Well, I'm certainly glad to see you," Sandy said. "So you want burritos huh?" Ryan laughed and set Lily down and she went back over to Leah and her coloring books.

"Yeah, but tell Kirsten to order extras because I brought someone home with me," Ryan grinned from ear to ear and Sandy raised an eyebrow and a familiar voice rang out.

"Make sure she gets extra sour cream," Seth said as he came in. Sandy grinned and threw his arms around his son. "Dad, please. Watch the hair."

"And how did you get here early?" Sandy asked.

"Grandpa's jet," Seth said shrugging. "He promised not to tell, I wanted it to be a surprise." Sandy was right, Kirsten was going to be over the moon. Both her sons home early? She was going to have all three children in the house again.

"Well, he didn't," Sandy grinned. "How's the east coast treating you?"

"It's great, but man is it cold," Seth said. "I needed this break. I think I'm permanently frozen."

"Hey Sandy? I brought home some dinner," Kirsten's voice rang out through the house. "Can you help me carry it in?" Lily hopped down from her chair one more time and bolted through the house.

"Mommy!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Why didn't I get that kind of welcoming?" Seth asked as his little sister zoomed past. Sandy loved it. He knew that Lily loved him, but she adored her mother. She was at that stage that she never wanted to be away from Kirsten, and tried to act exactly like her. And of course, Lily already looked like Kirsten. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and Kirsten's delicate features. She would break hearts one day.

"Hey little girl," Kirsten smiled and placed the bag she was holding and her briefcase down to pick up her daughter. She began to walk into the living room. She stopped when she spotted the boys. "What are you doing home!?" She placed Lily on the ground and threw her arms around both Ryan and Seth. "I thought you wouldn't be home until Saturday, Ryan? And Seth, you weren't sure if you were going to make it at all?"

"Mom, please. It's Thanksgiving, of course I was going to make it," Seth told her. "As long as you aren't making the meal, right?"

"Right," she grinned and wiped away a tear as she hugged them individually one more time. "It's so good to see you both! I missed you so much!"

"What about me Mommy?" Lily asked tugging on her mother's arm, not wanting to be left out of the attention that was being bestowed.

"And you Silly Lily!" She said picking her up. "Oh, it's a good thing I ordered a lot of food."

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Ryan loved being back at home. As he laid in bed that night and stared up at the ceiling and smiled to himself. Five years. It had been four years since he had stolen that car and called Sandy.

Five years.

It was unreal how much had changed in five years. After Lily's birth, he admittedly was unsure of their feelings for him in the family. When Lily was about six months, and Kirsten was overwhelmed because Caleb had a heart attack and he needed her more at the office, and she wanted to be at home with Lily more, Ryan had figured, falsely, that the last thing that she needed was him in the house. Sure they had told him that Lily didn't change anything, that they loved him like a son, but things had gotten really stressful, and he thought that the best thing for him to do was to step out of the picture. He had a bag packed and was heading out the back door when Kirsten's voice stopped him.

"Where are you going?" She asked. She was sitting on one of the pool chairs staring at the ocean. He froze and turned caught.

"I….just…I thought it would be better….if I left," he offered.

"Better for whom?"

"Better for you," he mumbled. "You're just…you have the company falling apart and the baby needs you, and Seth needs you…and…" Ryan's voice trailed off.

"Ryan, how many times do we need to tell you that we love you? That you are our son? That this family needs you? I love you." Kirsten couldn't understand why he couldn't grasp that. How many times did they need to tell him that? Ryan just shrugged and Kirsten patted the seat next to her. "Come sit down." He dropped his bag and took a seat.

"I love you too." It was said so softly that Kirsten didn't think she heard him the first time. "I mean…I love all of you. I just can't understand how you can want to deal with two teenagers and a baby." Kirsten reached out her hand and placed it on his cheek.

"God, Ryan, we love you so much." She reached down and took his hand in her tiny one and gave it a squeeze and they sat there silently for a while. "Do you believe that?" Ryan took a deep breath and sitting there, with her, holding her hand, and seeing that she meant it, she did love him, he slowly nodded his head.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I just panicked. I don't know what's wrong with me." She smiled gently at him.

"Nothing's wrong with you, it's rough for all of us right now."

"Are you going to be okay?" He asked.

"What?"

"You're…I know that you're stressed out, and I know that you cry at night in the living room. I always come down for a glass of water and hear you crying. Does Sandy know?"

"Know what?" Sandy's voice came from behind. He had woken up and found his wife gone and found both her and Ryan in the middle of what looked to be an intense conversation. Ryan looked from Kirsten to Sandy. Kirsten's head was done and it was clear that Sandy didn't know. With Lily, he was a little preoccupied himself, and he knew that Kirsten was a little strained, but he didn't know the extent of it.

"She cries at night," Ryan finally spoke up. Sandy looked surprised.

"Honey…" He said crossing over to her. Ryan took that as his cue to leave and stood up with the bag. "Where are you going?"

"No where," Ryan said giving Kirsten a small smile and heading back into the house.

"We'll talk more tomorrow," Kirsten called out to his retreating back.

"Of course we will," Ryan muttered.

"He was trying to leave," Kirsten said. "I think we need to take him to talk to someone."

"Maybe we should all go talk to someone?" Sandy suggested taking Ryan's seat and running a hand down her back. "Why didn't you tell me how upset you were?"

"I didn't want to add another item on your list of things to worry about," she said shrugging. "I'm just…a little overwhelmed right now." Tears began rolling down her cheeks and Sandy pulled her into a hug and held her until she had calmed down.

"Everything's going to be okay," Sandy told her. "Tomorrow we'll make an appointment for us all to talk to someone." She nodded and wiped the last tears away. "And next time, tell me when you're this overwhelmed and I'll try to make it so that you're….whelmed."

They had all gone to talk to someone and it had helped Ryan realize that his place in the family was sealed. They loved him, and he loved them, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

And now he was home from college. College. He went to college, it was amazing. And this was home, which was even more amazing. He felt a tug on his blanket.

"Ryan?" A little voice asked.

"Lily? What are you doing up?" He leaned over and picked her up and placed her on his bed.

"I had a bad dream," she said sticking her thumb in her mouth. "And Mommy and Daddy's door is closed. I didn't knock though, I just came here." Ryan laughed to himself a little bit. When Kirsten and Sandy shut their door it meant that they were doing something that they didn't want any of their children to walk in on. They had taught Lily already that when the door was closed she had to knock and wait for one of them to open it before walking in. Sandy had once commented that they didn't want to scar her for life, and Seth had retaliated with,

"Yeah, well why wasn't that rule enforced when I was little? I still have nightmares." Sandy had ignored him, and Kirsten had turned bright red.

"Well, do you want to stay here tonight?" Ryan asked. Lily shook her head.

"I want Mommy." Ryan knew that was going to be the answer, but still sighed inwardly. He would have to interrupt Sandy and Kirsten, and he hated having to interrupt them. Mainly because he didn't want to think about what was going on in that bedroom. They were his parents in every way but biologically, and he didn't want to think of them like that, even though he knew that they were getting it on like teenagers.

He picked Lily up and carried her down the hall to Sandy and Kirsten's room and was relieved to see the door was cracked. That meant it was safe to walk in. He placed Lily down and she bounded into the room and onto the bed, and he was also relieved to see both were dressed. Kirsten was dressed scantily, just wearing a black nightgown that clung to her body, but still dressed.

"Mommy," Lily moaned.

"Baby? What's the matter?" Kirsten asked. Ryan gave a small wave to Sandy who acknowledged it with a nod. Ryan went back to his room, and Sandy found that Kirsten already had Lily settled in between them. Sandy wrapped his arms around his daughter and wife and closed his eyes.

Both his girls were close enough to touch, and both his boys were just down the hall. Life was good. He opened his eyes again and saw Kirsten and Lily's chests move up and down simultaneously.

No, life was great.

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I believe that's it, kids. I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought, cause that would make my day. And hey, I updated, so now it's certain other people's turns to get their butts into gear and update too. An eye for an eye…or something like that.


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